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Is this a Tantalum Capacitor or what is it? If it is Ta what is it called?
I know it is an SMD, surface mounted device. Is it axial because it connects at each end? Is it Ta? I see no + sign anywhere?
http://i1076.photobucket.com/albums/...psqd2povji.jpg
Those would be called MLCC (monolithic ceramic capacitors), not tantalum but well worth saving for their silver and possibly platinum content. Maybe someone else can tell you how much platinum should be in them.
I haven't run any myself so I can't speak to the yield, but I know they are worth saving!
(It is actually palladium, a platinum group metal.)
Very Cool they are all over the boards I collect. I am going to try the heat gun trick I saw on YouTube. I will just save them and try to process them myself.
If you are going to sell boards I recommend checking with your buyer before removing anything that is soldered on to a board. Most will devalue boards when material is removed that is not in a socket.
As far as processing mlcc's yourself it is a bit involved since most are a combination of two metals. The most common are made of silver/palladium. Older ones pre 1992 can be silver/platinum or gold/platinum. To refine them you are dealing with very dangerous acids in addition to waste solutions which must be properly treated before disposing. I also would not recommend refining mlcc's unles you have a few pounds to make it worth the money you are going to invest in time, chemicals, equipment and studying to learn how to do it.
If you do refine them yourself you should know that palladium and platinum have very high melting temps. Platinum melts at 3220* F and palladium melts at 2831* F. Temps which are not easily reached with a commmon torch. As a matter of fact it is recommended that a hydrogen/oxy torch be used as one way to melt platinum. Another is the use of argon which can be costly in itself.
If you are not prepared to put in the time and money to do it properly then you should look for a buyer for mlcc'c, sell on ebay, sell to someone who can process them or have them toll refined.